Re: [ARSCLIST] Taiyo-Yuden out of business??

[Bob Olhsson <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
>From Don Cox: "...They will certainly be obsolete for _new_ storage by then,
but it would be
surprising if there were no machines available to play them. Equipment
is available for playing cylinders and 78s..."

Parts can be easily constructed one-off at reasonable prices for devices
playing cylinders and 78s. Digital gear is made up of parts that are only
affordable when produced in immense quantities. Most of them are also only
constructed to a disposable standard of quality.

The good news is that you can clone digital audio. The bad news is that you
need to do so frequently in order to stay ahead of hardware that will
probably never be available again after only a few years. Those of us who
have been working on standards have watched formats disappear faster than
any standards could be defined. As solid state memory and broadband delivery
take over, I expect to see all digital storage involving moving parts go
away rapidly. Working DAT machines are becoming very rare because there are
no more parts.

This parts manufacturing scale issue makes digital media EXTREMELY
unreliable and expensive in the long run as an archival medium.
	

Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com